As a planner enthusiast since middle school, I have a TON of experience using planners, pens, highlighters, and more. And as someone with a value for excellence, I’m always re-evaluating my planner tools and supplies to make sure I’m using the best of the best – both in aesthetics, alignment, and function. So let’s get into My Favorite Planning Tools 2026 edition!
Note: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase from one of these links, I may make a small commission at no extra charge to you. Thank you for your support!
My Favorite Planning Tools 2026
As a planner geek, I LOVE planners – especially paper planners. I use a mix of paper and digital planner tools to keep my life super organized.
🚨 Important note: Organization is one of my TOP priorities for 2026, so I’m being very extra with my planning. I’m purposefully overlapping a couple planners. You do NOT need this many. I am a planner nerd. I love this stuff. It makes me happy. But please do not feel like you need all of this to be successful with planning. I’m just sharing what I’m trying out for 2026.
My Favorite Paper Planners 2026
I’m changing things up a little in 2026 when it comes to my Daily Planner. I’ve historically used the Erin Condren as my daily planner since 2011. But this year I got a new one to add a little more detail to my daily and weekly planning routine.
Erin Condren LifePlanner (Daily Planner)
As I mentioned above, the Erin Condren LifePlanner has been my go-to daily planner since 2011. I love the monthly and daily spreads. I love how the boxes are pretty blank slate so you can really customize it to work for you. There are also multiple daily layouts so you can find a fit that works for you, your schedule, and your planning style. I’ve always used the vertical layout. I tried horizontal one year, but it didn’t work as well for me.
Because of my new daily planner (see next) I’m considering using my Erin Condren (EC) for planning my business.
That or I will use it as more of a functional scrapbook. Yes, I’m one of those people who keeps all of their planners and looks back on them to see what I was doing back in the day. Lolz!
The EC LifePlanner does have some pages that my new planner does not – monthly dashboard style blank pages that can be fully customized to track almost anything or make notes
👉 Click here to check out the Erin Condren LifePlanner
Save $10 on your first Erin Condren purchase with my referral link here (click)!
The Dailee Daily Planner
Because one of my intentions for 2026 is to really uplevel my life organization, I decided to get a more detailed daily planner. And The Dailee is a planner created by a Type A personality for fellow Type A peeps.
I lightly experimented with time blocking in 2025, and it worked okay. And whilst I do have a need for freedom, I think too much freedom can lead to disorganization, lack of follow through, and lost time spinning your wheels.
So I want to try using an hourly daily layout and see how it goes. This is a test for me in 2026.
Additionally, I want to try meal planning for the first time ever. I’ve historically done a more casual rolling meal-plan-ish approach. But in 2026, I want to really go all in. So The Dailee has a great meal plan + groceries page plus a high level weekly layout, which my EC planner does not.
There are also a couple other layouts that my EC does not have – Travel pages (including packing lists), monthly reviews and budgets, brain dump list pages, weekly cleaning lists, yearly to-dos, etc.
👉 Click here to check out The Dailee undated Daily Planner (since the 2026 is sold out)
The Dailee Monthly Planner (For the Refrigerator or Desk)
Whilst this is probably more useful for coordinating schedules and meal plans as a couple or with a family, I’ve decided to test whether a simple monthly view on the fridge would help me in 2026.
We’re only over one week in, and so far, it already has! I love that I don’t have to go wander over to my desk area to figure out what’s going on that day. I make most of my food at home, so I’m at the fridge a TON! So, it’s really convenient to take a quick peek at the calendar while I’m cooking, making coffee, etc. to get a sense of what’s going on that day.
👉 Click here to check out The Dailee Monthly Planner
***
Other Paper Planning Journals and Workbooks
When it comes to my favorite planning tools 2026, I do use other paper products beyond daily planners. They’re more like inputs to my planners, and I’ll explain how here…
The 5-Minute Journal
I’ve been using the 5-Minute Journal since 2016. I initially started using the digital version but when I started avoiding my phone for the first 30 minutes+ of the day, I went paper.
Whilst this is more of a gratitude journal, there’s a section called “What would make my day great?” Though this isn’t a direct planning prompt, this aligns with my intention in recent years to live more intentionally, especially when it comes to setting the tone of the day.
So sometimes this prompt helps me think of something to add to my schedule to live with more intention. In addition to how I use it as part of my morning routine to raise my vibe and set a positive tone for the day.
👉 Click here to get your 5-Minute Journal
A Dotted Page Blank Journal
I’ve been journaling since 2019, and I love dotted line journals for general writing. However, when it comes to planning, the thing about achieving goals or successfully completing projects is that they often need to be broken down into actionable steps.
Most planners don’t have enough blank pages for this. So I love using a blank journal to get messy and ideate ways to break larger goals and projects down.
From there, I can transfer the related goals, intentions, and action steps into my monthly, weekly, and daily plans so that my big ideas actually come to fruition instead of just being pipe dreams or pretty pictures on my vision board only.
👉 Click here for my favorite dot-page blank journal
The Artist of Life Workbook by Lavendaire
I’ve been using the Artist of Life Workbook by Lavendaire since 2022. This is my go-to workbook for really tuning in and creating super-aligned intentions and goals.
I really think one of the reasons many people fail at goals is because they choose the wrong ones. Goals to impress other people (like parents or friends), goals for a past version of yourself, goals because you don’t know yourself deeply enough. And I say this as someone who has set all of those kinds of goals and failed.
Going through this workbook and all the prompts helps you really hone in on what is most true and what matters most to your core so you can pick the best goals possible. And you get the chance to revisit your priorities every quarter and month.
But this isn’t a review of the workbook. So I’ll wrap this up by saying that this workbook helps me figure out my annual, quarterly, and monthly goals, which I then break down into actionable projects and steps that feed into my planners, which help me actually bring the goals to life.
👉 Click here to check out the Artist of Life Workbook
My Digital Tools 2026
Whilst I have tried digital tools like Notion or even Asana for my life planning, I tend to prefer paper tools. With one exception…
Google Calendar
My Google calendar is my home base for my events, activities, and appointments.
Since I don’t carry my paper planner everywhere I go, when I’m out and about and I need schedule something new it goes right into my Google calendar. This helps me ensure I don’t double schedule and create conflicts.
For example, this is really helpful when you’re at the doctor’s office and scheduling your follow-up appointment. You can easily pull up your Google calendar on your phone and ensure you don’t overbook yourself. Plus, the event goes into your primary book of record for other future scheduling. So when you schedule other future events, you can make sure you don’t book over your appointment.
And now you don’t have to carry a bulky / heavy-a$$ planner everywhere. Not to mention this is free!
Side note: Yes, I actually have tried to keep my planner with me everywhere I go. But I found inevitably, I’d end up somewhere random – on vacation, just stepped out for a quick coffee, etc. and someone wants to schedule something. Maybe you run into a friend, and they want to book in a dinner date. But now you don’t have your planner, so you can’t make solid plans. The digital calendar becomes a life saver!
My Favorite Planning Writing Tools
You wouldn’t think writing tools would be a big deal, but I know you planner girlies get it. My list of my favorite planning tools 2026 wouldn’t be complete without the writing instruments I need to actually use my planners.
Sometimes some pens just don’t work well in planners. Sure, they’re fine for making to-do lists, but at least for me – I need something exact for my planners. And of course highlighters and colorful pens help bring color-coordinated order and joy to what can sometimes feel like a mundane task.
My Favorite Planner Pens
I’m really picky about which pens I use in my planners. They need to write smoothly on the pages, not bleed through the pages, and write nicely. I only have a couple favorites.
- My go-to black ink pen for planners (available in different tip sizes) – Micron by Sakura (I like the 03 and 05 tip sizes best for planners)
- My go-to blank ink pen for journals (more casual than above) – Paper Mate FlexGrip Elite (looks like they stopped making these, so I’ll have to find a new pen this year)
- My favorite color pens – Paper Mate Flair – I love this set to hit all of the rainbow colors (and then some) and this one for a fun colorway
My Favorite Planner Highlighters
Who knew you could use so many kinds of highlighters? Maybe just me? Unless you’re a planner lover too, and then maybe you have more than I do even! If so, let’s be friends!
- My favorite go-to highlighters for almost anything – also available in almost any color you can imagine – Zebra Pen Mildliner Dual-Tip Highlighters (I’m using this set) – This is a huge set for all the colors!
- A fun set in a nice pastel rainbow vibe – Stabilo Boss Original Pastel – they’re so cute and short, but they also function really well (Fun fact – I discovered these at a planner conference – yes, in person!)
- A colorful yet subdued set – Alohaster HPSIZEE Aesthetic highlighters with chisel tip (these seem to bleed through the pages the least)
***
More Planning Posts to Love
- Best Planner Supplies (here are some of my favorite planner supplies from over the years)
***
Thank you for stopping by and checking out my post My Favorite Planning Tools 2026 (Planners, Pens, Highlighters, and More).
What are your favorite planning tools? I’m always on the lookout for new goodies to test out and try!